Gary Geddes
Gary Geddes (born June 9, 1940) is a Canadian poet, anthologist, and academic. Life Geddes was born in Vancouver, British Columbia. He spent 4 years of his childhood on the Canadian prairies, but otherwise remained on the west coast until 1963. Geddes earned a Bachelor’s Degree in English and philosophy at the University of British Columbia (UBC), and an M.A. and Ph.D. in English at the University of Toronto. Before embarking on his literary career, he worked as a gillnet fisherman, loaded boxcars at BC Sugar Refinery, stocked shelves at Woodwards, worked as a fishing guide, and drove a water-taxi. He taught English and creative writing at Concordia University for 20 years, 1978-1998. He then returned to the west coast, where he was appointed distinguished professor of Canadian culture at Western Washington University, 1998-2001. He has also taught English at the British Columbia Institute of Technology and the University of Victoria, as well as serving as a writer-in-residence at Green College (UBC) and the Vancouver Public Library. Geddes has written and edited over 35 books, including 17 books of poetry, as well as fiction, non-fiction, drama, translation, criticism and anthologies. His work has been translated into 5 languages. Geddes is known as 1 of Canada’s best political poets, having been singled out for this honour by literary critic George Woodcock in the late 1960s, whose claim graced the back cover of many of Geddes' books. Geddes has explored human rights issues in places such as Chile during its dictatorship, in Nicaragua during its civil war, and in Palestine and Israel after the Oslo peace accord. He lives on Vancouver Island, dividing his time between Victoria and French Beach. Writing Geddes is known for being a political and humanist poet, but his writing is also deeply rooted in place. Although he cannot be defined as an environmental writer or nature writer, early books such as Snakeroot (1973) and more recent work such as Sailing Home: A Journey through Time, Place & Memory (2001) are based around a specific place and explore the human relationship with that environment. Geddes’s relationship to the environment seems to be strongly nostalgic: Sailing Home is a memoir of his personal search for a place which may no longer exist, or may have changed beyond recognition, and Snakeroot also involves revisiting a landscape which is no longer home. Geddes approaches the environment with an attitude that ranges from confrontational to appreciative. In the poem “ladder grass” (from Snakeroot) he reveals the appreciative side: “The ladder grass/ at my feet is unique, splendid,” and in “snakeroot” he says, “The road to hell is paved.” However, these lines co-exist in the book that contains the poem “blood and feathers,” which is far more confrontational towards nature, especially in the opening lines “I refuse to be seasonal, stirred/ to a frenzy by a planet’s turning. Let the dead rocks and dying grasses/ speak for themselves, or be dumb.” Whether confrontational or appreciative, though, Geddes' responses to the environment seem based in a strong attachment to the places he has lived, and in an undeniable connection between human beings and their surroundings. Recognition In 2007 he received an Honorary Ll.D. degree from Royal Roads University.Royal Roads University. (2007) “Citation for Gary Geddes, honorary degree recipient”. Citation for Gary Geddes (retrieved 2008-12-01). Awards *E.J. Pratt Medal and Prize for Poetry (1970). *National Poetry Prize, for The Acid Test (1981). *Canadian Authors Association Literary Award, poetry (1982). *America's Best Book Award, Commonwealth Poetry Competition, for The Terracotta Army (1985). *Writers' Choice Award (1987). *National Magazine Gold Award, for Hong Kong (1987). *Archibald Lampman Award (1989). *Arvon International Poetry Competition, short list (1993). *Poetry Book Society Recommendation, UK, for Active Trading (1996). *Gabriela Mistral Prize from the Government of Chile (1996). *Lieutenant Governor's Award for Literary Excellence in British Columbia (2008)CBC. (2008-04-19) “Poet Gary Geddes gets B.C. literary prize”. cbc.ca (retrieved 2008-12-01). Publications Poetry * Poems (1971) * Rivers Inlet. Vancouver: Talonbooks, 1971. * Snakeroot. Vancouver: Talonbooks, 1973. * Letter of the Master of Horse. Ottawa: Oberon Press, 1973. * War & other measures. Toronto: House of Anansi, 1976. * The Acid Test. Winnipeg: Turnstone Press, 1981. * The Terracotta Army. Ottawa: Oberon Press, 1984. ** (illustrated edition). Fredericton: Goose Lane, 2011. * Changes of State. Moose Jaw, SK: Coteau, 1986. * Hong Kong Poems. Ottawa: Oberon Press, 1987. * Light of Burning Towers. Montreal: Vehicule Press, 1990. * Girl by the Water. Winnipeg: Turnstone, 1994. * The Perfect Cold Warrior. Kingston: Quarry, 1995. * Active Trading: Selected poems, 1970-1995. Fredericton: Goose Lane, 1996. * Flying Blind. Fredericton: Goose Lane, 1998. * Skaldance. Fredericton: Goose Lane, 2004. * Falsework. Fredericton: Goose Lane, 2007. * Swimming Ginger. Fredericton: Goose Lane, 2010.Gary Geddes: Publications, Canadian Poetry Online, University of Toronto Libraries, UToronto.ca, Web, July 1, 2012. Play * Les Maudits Anglais (with Diana Bellshaw, David Fox, Linda Griffiths, John Jarvis, Paul Kelman, Claude Roussin & Paul Thompson). Toronto: Playwrights Canada, 1984. Fiction * The Unsettling of the West. Ottawa: Oberon Press, 1986. Non-Fiction * Conrad's Later Novels. Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press, 1980. * Letters from Managua: Meditations on politics & art. Kingston; Quarry, 1990. * Sailing Home: A journey through time, place & memory. Toronto: HarperCollins, 2001. * Kingdom of Ten Thousand Things: An impossible journey from Kabul to Chiapas. Toronto: HarperCollins, 2005. Translated * No Easy Exit (translated with Gonzalo Millan). Lantzville: Oolichan, 1989. * I Didn't Notice the Mountain Growing Dark: Poems of Li Bai and Du Fu (translated with the assistance of George Liang), 1986. Edited *''20th-Century Poetry & Poetics''. Toronto: Oxford University Press, 1969, 2nd edition 1973, 3rd edition 1985, 4th edition, 1996, 5th edition, 2006. *''Fifteen Canadian Poets''. Toronto: Oxford University Press, 1970. **''15 Canadian Poets + 5'', 1978 **''15 Canadian Poets X 2'', 1988. **''15 Canadian Poets X 3'', 2001. * Skookum Wawa: Writings of the Canadian northwest. Toronto: Oxford, 1975 * Divided We Stand''Toronto: Peter Martin, 1977. * ''The Inner Ear: An Anthology of New Poets. Dunvegan: Quadrant, 1982. * Chinada: Memoirs of the Gang of Seven. Dunvegan: Quadrant, 1982. * Vancouver: Soul of A City (1986) * Compañeros: Writings about Latin America. Dunvegan: Cormorant, 1990. * The Art of Short Fiction: An International Anthology (1992; brief edition, 2000) * A Verse Map of Vancouver. Vancouver: Anvil Press, 2009. Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy Athabasca University.Bibliography of Works by Gary Geddes, English-Canadian Writers, Faculty of Humanities & Social Sciences, Athabasca University, Web, July 1, 2012.. See also *List of Canadian poets *Timeline of Canadian poetry References Fonds *Geddes, Gary, 1940- at Library & Archives Canada Notes External links ;Poems *Canadian Poetry Online: Gary Geddes - biography & 5 poems (Jimmy's Place, P.O.W., Sandra Lee Scheuer, Sullivan, The Last Canto) ;About *Gary Geddes in the Canadian Encyclopedia. *Gary Geddes at English-Canadian Writers *Geddes, Gary (1940-) at ABC Bookworld Category:Western Washington University faculty Category:1940 births Category:Living people Category:Canadian poets Category:Writers from Vancouver Category:20th-century poets Category:English-language poets Category:Poets